It was sure nice to have a two day weekend.  I even got to see my brother Doug, who drove in from StL for a brief visit. Jodi and I took him and Jayson to dinner and we had some home cooking at the Corner Cafe before he drove back.

Jodi and I had a productive weekend as we did some more shopping for our studio closet and found some great deals.  I also bought her a sewing machine so she can start creating our clothing and costumes for some of our creative shoots.  I recently bought a 25' pink parachute that we will be turning into an amazing dress for one of our models. 

Our intern has been making good progress on our magazines and she will be around even more as we have agreed to let her "work off" the cost of her senior products that her family would like to purchase. So, she will be around assisting us quite a bit for the next few months.  It will be awesome to have the extra hands.

An image from our frigid field photoshoot.

The holiday was an off day for me and Jodi and I spent the entire day with our intern; shopping, eating, shooting and having a lot of fun.  School was out but she wanted to come anyway so we decided to have a play day.  Jodi and I recently ordered 520 yards of tulle to make some dresses with for our photo shoots so that was first on the to do list.  It took a couple hours to make our first one and we were all proud of our accomplishment, having never made one before.  We then decided to go thrift store shopping for some clothing to use for photo shoots. The first store we went to yielded some shoes, a couple jackets, and a couple shirts.  We then decided to go to some vintage clothing stores in Midtown.

The first store we visited was quite amazing.  They had everything when it comes to fashion from different eras.  It was a lot of fun to look through everything and we often found ourselves holding up a wild, ugly or bizarre looking garment and saying "Look at this one", with everyone laughing.  What people actually bought and wore in yesteryear is quite funny today.  We wound up buying a couple 1960's dresses, a pair of go-go boots, and a few accessories.  We will definitely be going back for more in the future.

Everyone was getting hungry so we decided to hit Imo's pizza.  Our intern was unfamiliar with Imo's and we had a little feast.  She had pasta and pizza and loved it as much as we do.  We only wish we had one closer to our home and not 25 minutes away.

After lunch we visited another vintage clothing store.  We had been there before and it's not as nice as the first we went to.  We browsed a bit but didn't see anything we thought we could use so we headed back to our studio for a little shoot with what we created in the morning.  I decided we needed to get out in a field somewhere as the sun set.  The fuchsia dress we made would really pop in a open field with a little snow and we found a great spot.  It was 24 degrees at shoot time so we had to work fast so our model didn't freeze.  We spent about 15 minutes shooting before going back to the studio where we played with some dry ice to create fog and shot for another 30 minutes or so.  It was a fun day for all of us and we may start doing a "fun day" once a month, just to relax and recharge.

Jayson wanted his picture taken with my hat so we went down to the studio and created a few pics of him.  I love the one where I told him to cross his arms and give me his tough guy look.  Clicking on the image brings it up larger.

Last weekend I went to the gun show and it was packed.  The plan was to get JD a handgun but since he didn't make it a priority to be home when he needed to be, I went without him and subsequently saved $700. Ya snooze, ya lose.  I didn't wind up purchasing anything for myself as the deals weren't that great.  I think a lot of dealers like to be collectors.  I'll just keep purchasing online. 

With the MLK holiday ahead, I was suppose to have two days off, even though I am working this Saturday.  Now, due to that holiday, they are rescheduling our C crew to work days on Sunday, which now I have to work since it's my weekend.  I like the double time but I hope the next 32 months pass quickly as I'm ready to walk out the door. 

Our intern was with us three days this week and we're off to a good start.  Next week, we begin work on our new magazine that will be distributed to area high schools, much like we did last year, but this one will be bigger and better.  We printed 10,000 last year and will likely stay about the same this year as these are strictly for certain schools that we are targeting.  We will also be publishing a second magazine that only clients who book a session will receive.  We have new studio t-shirts in the works as well as a huge social media campaign.

Baseball season starts for JD next week as practices begin in preparation for the season that starts in mid-February.  Their early games will be played in Dallas, back to back weekends.  If JD is healthy and the new pitchers do as well as expected, they should be pretty strong in that regard.  Hopefully the offense can provide run support and they win their conference.

Jayson has a new fascination and it is Monster Trucks.  We watch the shows on TV and I have now bought him about six 1:24 scale trucks to play with.  We make mountains and ramps out of pillows and roll them across the floor to each other.  The truck series is coming to Kansas City in a month and then they will be at the dome in St. Louis a couple week after.  I would much rather see them in the bigger dome so I'm leaning toward taking him to that one, although at the smaller arena they would be more up close and personal which might be better for him.  For me, I want to see big air and more speed.  Decisions, decisions.

Our new intern started yesterday and I worked a half day so I could be there when she arrived and go over everything with her, give her direction and then get some feedback from her.  I was impressed with her responses and I think she has a great understanding of the message we are trying to convey and our branding/marketing plan.

This weekend, I am taking JD to the gun show and we will be shopping for his first firearm.  He seems to think he would like a revolver and I am OK with that.  Simple, reliable and not much to think about.  It would be a good first gun for him.  I plan on showing him a Ruger GP100 and a Smith and Wesson 686 as my recommendations but ultimately I am going to let him decide what he likes and feels best in his hand.   I'm going to do my best to not come home with a gun for my self but I could come home with some accessories for my sniper rifle build I started.  I have been somewhat tempted to scrap the build and buy the Springfield M1A Archangel instead.  It is a pretty awesome piece for the money and I would just need an optic for it.  Again, decisions, decisions.